Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. It has been estimated that half of men and one third of women will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifespan. Moreover, because cancer is predominantly a disease of aging, the number of cancer deaths worldwide is predicted to increase about 45% from 2007 to 2030 (from 7.9 million to 11.5 million deaths) due to the increase proportion of elderly people (WHO estimates, 2008). Cancer is also the most costly disease. The latest estimates from the National Cancer Institute showed that the overall economic cost of cancer in the U.S. in 2007 was $226.8 billion and unless more successful preventive interventions, early detection and more efficient treatments will be developed, this already huge economic burden is expected to further grow during the next two decades. Despite significant progresses in the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of many forms of cancer, which is testified by an increase of the percentage of 5-years cancer survivals in U.S. and in Europe over the last thirty years, some tumour types, such as pancreatic, liver, lung, brain remain orphan of effective treatments calling for the development of new therapeutic options. Oncolytic viruses, which exploit cancer-specific vulnerabilities to kill cancer cells while sparing normal cells are fast emerging as promising tools for fighting cancer. No less than twelve different oncolytic viruses are currently undergoing phase I-III clinical trials against various malignancies used alone or in combination with other anticancer agents. Among them, the oncolytic rat parvovirus H-1PV is currently evaluated for safety and first signs of efficacy in a phase I/IIa clinical trial in patients having recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (Geletneky et al, BMC Cancer 2012, pp. 99).
H-1PV is a small (˜25 nm in diameter), non-enveloped icosahedral particle containing a 5.1 kb long single-stranded DNA genome. The genomic organization of H-1PV consists of two transcriptional units under the control of two promoters, the P4 early promoter and P38 late promoter. P4 regulates the expression of the gene encoding the non-structural (NS) proteins (NS1 and NS2) and the P38 the one encoding the capsid (VP) proteins (VP1, VP2, VP3). The virus multiplies preferentially in fast dividing cancer cells. This onco-selectivity is not based on a better uptake of the virus by cancerous cells, but rather is due to the fact that cancer cells overexpress factors, such as cyclin A, E2F, or CREB/ATF, required for virus DNA replication. Cancer therapy using a parvovirus and its combination with chemotherapy or an HDAC inhibitor has been recently described (WO 2009/083232 A1; WO 2011/113600 A1).
One frequent problem of local therapy of tumors by injection or infusion of oncolytic viruses is the targeted distribution of the inoculum and a loss of active substance. In particular, when a catheter is used the distribution takes place along the catheter track due to an area of diminished resistance along the path of the catheter through the tissue. This phenomenon is also known as backflow.
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